The subject of the present invention is an automatic device for guiding and orienting magnetic tape cassettes prior to the cassettes being positioned in a machine for the loading of the tape thereon.
Operational problem arises from the standards which require precise positioning of the metal screws which connect the two housing halves of which the cassette consists.
These standards provide that these screws must be in a certain position during the loading of the cassette. It is therefore necessary for the cassettes to be aligned precisely at the entrance of the machine used for loading cassettes with magnetic tape.
At the present time, the task of supplying the cassettes is handled by using a funnel which provides no special device for guiding and orienting the cassettes and leaves it up to the operator to align them correctly in advance.
This system results in considerable lost time. Human error probability during cassette guidance has proven to be too high.
Several cassette alignment devices are know, but they are limited to use upstream of the cassette conveyor belts and are composed of several independently operating stations. The disadvantage of these types of devices arise from their inability to supply groups of machines and also because, for cost reasons, they are not economically suitable for supplying an individual machine.
The principal goal of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a simple orienting mechanism which can feed cassettes to a plurality of machines and which can be mounted directly on a machine for loading cassettes with magnetic tape.
With these goals in mind, the invention comprises an automatic supply funnel for receiving randomly oriented cassettes and equipped with a first sensor means and an individual cassette escapement unloading device. A first guiding device is mounted at the bottom of the funnel and is equipped with a second sensor means. A pushing device conveys the individual cassettes from the first guiding device to a second guiding or aligning device. A logic control unit, which also serves for control, is provided, capable of monitoring and controlling the guidance of the cassette at each guiding device in response to the input from the sensors and to affect appropriate orientation at each guiding device and to coordinate the escapement from the funnel and the pushing of the cassettes between the guiding device.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said means for guidance and rotation can be motorized or connected by means of gearing with a geared motor. The first sensor is located in the funnel to determine on which side of the funnel the open side of the cassette is and then controls the second rotation guiding device at the delayed time when the cassette reaches that second guiding device. The second sensors sense the position of the screws in the cassette, after its drop from the funnel by means of the escapement mechanism to the first guiding device, to orient the cassette for passage to the second guiding device. A pusher mechanism is provided to move the cassette between the first and second guiding devices, while the second guiding device places the cassette on a conveyor mechanism after orienting the position of the open end of the cassette with respect to the conveyor after which the cassette is released to the conveyor.